


Prismatic

by DragonWannabe



Series: Soulmate Color AU [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, F/M, First Meetings, Gen, I refuse to believe ming hua is just willing to be soulmates immediately, Rejection, She/They Ming-Hua, theoretically i might post a chapter two where it gets romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29192973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonWannabe/pseuds/DragonWannabe
Summary: Those with multiple soulmates are considered spirit blessed, that they have so many to rely on and care about.Ming-Hua couldn’t think of anything worse if they tried.
Relationships: Ming-Hua & Ghazan, Ming-Hua & P’li, Ming-Hua & Zaheer (Avatar), P'li/Zaheer (Avatar)
Series: Soulmate Color AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104713
Comments: 11
Kudos: 14





	Prismatic

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the same color soulmate AU as _An Addendum_ and the lore is explained at the beginning of that fic. I’m comfortable with where this fic ends to call it a one-shot with potential for more [and will probably BE more except for the fact I have _so many_ Red Lotus WIPs]. If I write the second chapter, I’ll update the tags accordingly.

Ming-Hua was minding their own business, trying to figure out which of the men on the street they wanted to try and swindle or rob, depending on how willing they were to let go of their coins. She was typically small enough and pitiful looking enough that she rarely had to rob, because robbing attracted attention, especially when she was so easy to describe. 

She was surveying the crowd only for someone to knock into her, and Ming-Hua whirled to say some biting remark, _Watch your steps, you oaf._ only to blink, and blink and blink as the grey of the sky was replaced with something different, and the few trees with leaves took on a different hue. They finally found their bearings and looked at the hulking boy that had bumped into her. 

His clothes were the colors of the trees, and, looking down, Ming-Hua realized that her clothes were the color of the sky. 

“You’re the last one.” His voice was full of awe, and his grey skin looked weird next to the colorful outfit he wore. He reached a hand out towards them, and the trance Ming-Hua had found herself in was broken. She ducked away from his hand and pushed herself into the crowd. She walked past a barrel full of water, and emptied it to make herself a pair of arms. 

They ducked into an alleyway, trying to lose the guy who she knew was tailing her, from both his heavy steps and the shouted “Wait! I just want to talk!”

After two streets and three alleyways, Ming-Hua darted into a dead end and cursed. They looked up, and launched themself towards the roof of one of the buildings. They let out a small sigh of relief and readjusted themselves so they wouldn’t be visible from the ground. 

His steps thundered in the alley, and he was panting as he shouted, “I’m not— We’re not going to hurt you. There’s two more of us, if you want to see the full set. I’ll be there, same spot as today at midday tomorrow, if you want to talk about it.”

His steps faded away as he left the alley. She looked towards the sky, at the various shades of Not-Gray that were layered and the plants that were a different Not-Gray in the distance. 

They sighed again, lamenting that they wouldn’t be able to use their favorite street the next day. 

The boy must not have gotten a good look at her, to have chased her so enthusiastically. Ming-Hua didn’t want to see his face, or the shapeless blobs of the other two faces he said they were matched with, grow disappointed with her. Soulmates were supposed to accept you unconditionally, but knowing how horrible her parents’ marriage and bond was, Ming-Hua found it difficult to believe that anyone would want that fairy tale bond with her. 

Besides, the guy already had two other soulmates. She wouldn’t fit. No one in their right mind needed three soulmates, and they wouldn’t miss her. They thought about the meager coppers they still had from the previous scam, and tried to think of ways to stretch it further. The guy would probably look for her for a while, still deluded into thinking soulmate pairs (quartets? spirits, who needed that many) were perfect. 

They slid off the roof, using their water arms to make the impact less jarring. She went back to the cheap inn she was staying at, avoiding all the major roads to avoid seeing any more of this Not-Gray. This was Ming-Hua’s favorite town they had stayed in so far, the only one where they were successful regularly enough to afford a room from the number of tourists with no brain and full wallets. 

She discarded her water arms and threw herself onto the bed, groaning into the flat pillow that was there. 

It was not an ideal situation. 

——

Ghazan was thrilled. Of their trio, he was the first to meet their Fourth, and he was certain with enough time, she would be willing to meet the others. 

After losing her in the alley, he had called out, hoping she was still around and he just couldn’t see her. Whether or not she had heard, he would be back the next day and the next, until she was willing to meet Zaheer and P’li. 

He had left the village they were stopped in, returning back to their camp they had set up in the woods. P’li didn’t appreciate the stares she received in most places, and often elected to be camp security. It didn’t hurt that she could take out any intruders without getting close to them either. 

It was nearing dusk when he finally walked into their campsite, and P’li was tending the fire while Zaheer was prepping ingredients for dinner. Ghazan knelt by the shorter man, and took the second knife and helped chop the vegetables. 

“Guess who I found in town today?” Ghazan said, nearly giddy with excitement.

“Your sister?” P’li replied, the bulk of her attention elsewhere.

“The Earth Queen?” Zaheer answered at the same time. 

“Those were both horrible guesses, and no. I found our Fourth.” Both of his soulmates' heads jerked up and stared at Ghazan, “Blue’s pretty, by the way. She ran and I told her I’d be in the same place I was today if she wanted to talk.” 

“What does she look like?” the other man asked, interested. 

“She’s tiny, way smaller than any of us,” P’li snorted, “And wore all blue. I think she’s a waterbender, and a pretty good one at that, considering she disappeared from a dead end alleyway.” 

“You don’t think she’s an earthbender?” P’li questioned.

“No, I would have felt it if she moved that much dirt. She was just there, and then not. She had to have scaled the wall, but it was twelve feet of smooth earth so I’m not entirely sure how— maybe she used water to pull herself up, like Utuk does.”

“I’ll go with you.” Zaheer offered. “Perhaps you startled her the first time.”

Ghazan shook his head, “I don’t want to scare her. She seemed pretty freaked by the idea of meeting one of us, let alone all three.” 

Zaheer considered this, and nodded. “If you don’t have any luck talking to her, I’ll go into town and see if she finds me less threatening than the six foot two man with tattoos.”

Ghazan barked a laugh, “I’ll let you know if I can’t find her.”

P’li started grabbing ingredients from the prepped pile the two of them had created and added them to the stew pot. “Well, if you boys need any help, let me know.”

“Will do, P’li.”

——

Ming-Hua wore their sleeves. If he hadn’t noticed their lack of arms the day before, they didn’t want him to find out now. It also had the added benefit of hiding her water arms, which was even better since she refused to meet him without any way to defend herself. 

She had spent a large portion of the night debating on if she wanted to meet the man or not. On one hand, she didn’t want to join him, didn’t want him and his other soulmates to claim her. On the other, she couldn’t deny that she was curious, and it was very possible the three of them were doing better than she was on her own. 

They decided it couldn’t hurt, to meet the man they had seen the day before. If she decided not to meet the others, she would at least know what she was missing after their conversation. 

In the morning, she acquired a new purse full of coins, and was confident it would be enough if she had to leave the town after their conversation. 

It was nearing noon, and Ming-Hua went to the same place they had seen him the day before, and sat down on a bench. Their eyes darted around the street, nerves building as they waited. 

Finally she saw the man from the day before, his face nonchalantly looking around for her. She locked eyes with him, and he crossed the street before sitting down at the opposite end of the bench she had taken. 

“If I’m honest I didn’t think you would show.” He started speaking first, “My name is Ghazan.”

“Lee.” Ming-Hua offered the fake name, knowing he would take it for what it was, an obvious sign she didn’t trust him. 

Ghazan raised an eyebrow, “Okay, ‘Lee’. Any particular reason you ran away yesterday?”

“I don’t care what the law says. I don’t belong to you, and you don’t belong to me.” they said shortly. If he couldn’t agree to this one basic request, she’d bail on this town today and leave before the other two could arrive. If they were benders, she’d be hard pressed to get away from three of them. 

“We’re not going to keep you hostage!” he said indignantly, “What do you take us for? If you really hate us that much, we’ll respect your decision to leave, but at least come and meet the other two so you can get the full spectrum. Blue and green are pretty awesome, but red and yellow really make the world,” he made a motion with his hands, “pop. And you’ll like P’li, she’s awesome. Zaheer is cool too.”

She assumed that the two different Not-Grays she was seeing were this green and blue, and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself by asking which was which. “I didn’t say I’d meet the rest of you.”

“Right, but as someone who has had color _and_ grey for the past four years, it can be disorienting if you don’t have them all. At least collect the whole set, even if you decide you hate us.” The idea had merit, and Ming-Hua was struggling to come up with a downside to seeing the full spectrum. The only downside was that this group might go back on their word and try and force her to stay. 

Ming-Hua would like to see them try. 

“If, and I am not saying I do, I wanted to meet this P’li and Zaheer, where are they?” If he told her they were out of sight but nearby, she’d leave.

“We’ve been camping outside of town. I assume they stayed there, since P’li doesn’t like coming into town.”

“Why not?” Perhaps this P’li was a recognized criminal. 

“If you met her, you’d know.” Ghazan teased them, and Ming-Hua rolled their eyes. “Are you a bender?”

“That’s not any of your business.” 

“Well, P’li’s a firebender, and I am an earth bender and it gets kinda hot, if you know what I mean.” He said, voice filled with innuendo. 

“If the whole point of you trying to get me to meet your soulmates is so we can fuck, I’m not interested.” Ming-Hua snarled, all goodwill towards this stranger evaporating in a few seconds. She shifted, ready to leave, rest of the colors be damned. 

“Our soulmates. They’re yours too, whether you want them or not. Look, I didn’t mean anything by what I said before, if you come to a place with less people than—“ He stopped and shook his head, “That doesn’t sound any better. Sorry. I just don’t want to draw attention to it since it’s not exactly a common skill.”

“They’re not my anything. And keep your skills to yourself. Tell _your_ soulmates I’m not interested. If they’re that desperate for colors, they can find me, but I don’t want to talk to them. Don’t look for me again, Ghazan.” Ming-Hua stood and walked away briskly. 

“Lee! Wait!” He shouted after them, and they heard his steps thunder behind them. He grabbed one of their sleeves and Ming-Hua whirled.

“Was I not clear earlier? Do not _touch_ me!” they barked. He jerked back as if he had been burned. If he kept touching them, he’d realize soon enough they weren’t filled properly. 

“Come to dinner, tonight. We have a camp in the woods on the east end of the village, and usually make dinner at dusk. We won’t bother you again if you really don’t want us, but at least give us a shot.” Ghazan pleaded with her. If he was so desperate to give the others colors, she could do that. 

“And then you’ll leave me alone? All of you?” She demanded. 

“On my mother’s grave.” Ming-Hua eyes danced over his face and detected nothing but sincerity. 

“I’ll think about it.” She offered.

He grinned at her like she promised to join the three of them. She turned around and walked away. 

Ghazan didn’t follow. 

——

She wasn’t sure how good of an earthbender he was, so she traveled in the trees to get to the campsite. There was a clear smoke plume they aimed towards, using their water arms to almost silently swing from branch to branch. 

She was even quieter when she could hear their chatter and see the brightness of the fire. Finally, around thirty feet and a few trees away she stopped and looked at the other two. The other man was unassuming, but was clearly built with lean muscle that indicated skill in some martial art. Ghazan had not mentioned the other man, Zahill?, being a bender, so Ming-Hua assumed he was skilled in more traditional non-bending forms. 

The woman was tall. She towered over Ghazan, who already towered over Ming-Hua. And she had a weird marking on her face. Both of these seemed like the things Ghazan was alluding to when he said P’li didn’t like going into town. She was manipulating the fire, he had said she was a firebender, bringing the flames down to a more manageable cooking fire. 

“Ghazan,” he looked up from where he had been playing with a set of rocks in his hands, “Can you go wash these in the stream?” He nodded at the taller woman, and took the small basket of good from her, before walking towards Ming-Hua’s lookout. She remembered the small trickle of water she had crossed on her way here. It was about ten minutes away by foot.

They held their breath as Ghazan passed beneath them. As he went farther away, Ming-Hua let out the breath they had been holding, and refocused their attention to the other two. 

“Do you think she’ll come?” P’li asked after a few minutes. “I don’t want to get my hopes up, but another girl around would be nice.”

“I would like to think so. However, just as you cannot force a flower to bloom, no more can you force someone to open up to you. Whatever her decision, we must honor it.” the man replied calmly, staring into the fire. 

“I _know_ that!” P’li responded, irritated, “But that’s entirely different than if she’ll show up at all! Ghazan said she was blue, do you think that means she’s a waterbender?” Ming-Hua grimaced that they already suspected her waterbending, since that meant she couldn’t use it as a surprise to get away. 

“It would not be a bad guess, but colors do not mean everything. Why would I be yellow when I am very much not an airbender?” 

“You were an acolyte for years, Zaheer. These days that’s about as close as you can get unless you’re Avatar Aang or his son. I’m red. Ghazan’s green. We’re like a perfectly matched set.” Zaheer hummed in agreement. 

“Nevertheless, it is Lee’s choice what they do and do not share with us. Even you were reluctant to share your life with me, and our meeting instilled more trust than her and Ghazan’s.”

P’li sat down next to Zaheer, leaning against him, “I just want her to feel welcome here. _You_ made me feel more welcome than anyone had before, and Ghazan is like the brother I always wanted.”

Zaheer turned and kissed her cheek. “The spirits chose the four of us for a reason, I'm sure of it. We must be patient.”

Ming-Hua suddenly felt like an intruder at their domesticity, and Ghazan still hadn’t returned from the stream. Steeling herself, Ming-Hua silently landed on the ground and walked towards the clearing. 

Once there, Ming-Hua had to shut their eyes tightly from the new onslaught of colors. After a few moments, they blinked, and blinked again, and finally were able to keep their eyes open. The two people already in the small meadow were standing, staring down at her. P’li certainly made Ming-Hua feel small. 

“I assume you two are Zaheer and P’li? Ghazan mentioned you.” They tried to project confidence they weren’t really feeling. 

P’li reached a hand out, but when Ming-Hua did nothing but stare at it, retracted. “You must be Lee?”

They also clearly knew she had given him a fake name, judging by their tone. Zaheer started speaking, his soft voice pleasant, “Ghazan has told us so much about you. Namely that you were very small.”

“And he is very large, isn’t he? You’d think with such a big head there’d be more room for brains in there.”

Zaheer smiled and the joy on P’li’s face brought a smile to Ming-Hua’s like an infection. Unless she had judged him wrong, Ghazan didn’t seem the type to mind being made fun of. Not that it would stop her, but it was still nice to have banter instead of expecting a cruel retaliation. 

“Please stay for dinner.” P’li said, “You don’t have to stay forever, if you don’t want to, but I think dinner would be good for all of us. Have you found out what all the colors are called yet?”

Ming-Hua shook their head. P’li looked indignant as she turned towards one of the tents surrounding them and pulled out a book. “Ghazan should have told you about blue and green earlier.”

She dusted it off before handing it to Ming-Hua. They pursed their lips before raising their sleeve, water tendril snaking out to grasp the book. They would find out eventually, anyway, and it was better to see their distaste immediately before Ming-Hua deluded themself into thinking their soulmates wouldn’t care.

They pretended not to pay attention to the other two’s faces as they sat down on the ground, book in lap. She opened the book, taking care not to smear the ink. The first page was some bullshit about the magic of soulmates, and Ming-Hua skimmed it before turning the page again, to be greeted by the new color that showed up when she walked into the clearing. _Red_. 

She furtively glanced up, trying to spot the other red things around the campsite. P’li’s outfit was largely this red, as was the tattoo on her head. P’li and Zaheer were sitting together, each measuring out different spices for whatever their meal was supposed to be. 

The next page had _Orange_ in a flowery font, and it reminded them of the fire sitting in front of them. The sky was also tinged with orange, fading into something different. 

_Yellow_. Ming-Hua searched for anything yellow in the camp, and other than the faint ends of the fire, couldn’t see anything. 

_Green_. It was the outfit Ghazan had been wearing and the color of the grass around them. 

_Blue_. She looked at her own outfit and recognized it as a shade of blue. 

_Purple_. The sky was sort of fading into a purplish hue. 

“You made it!” The loud, boisterous voice broke her concentration and she whipped her head up. Ghazan was holding the same basket she had seen him holding when she had been spying. He reached towards her and Ming-Hua snarled. 

“ _What_ did I say about touching me?” He withdrew again, looking unbothered by her rebuke. 

“Keep that twig in your hair then. See if I care, tree walker.” Ghazan handed the basket to Zaheer, who pulled out a knife and board and started cutting. Ming-Hua knew she didn’t have a twig in her hair, and that he was just being an asshole. They were a bit embarrassed at being called out for traveling via the trees. 

“I can chop those, real quick if you want.” Ming-Hua offered. Zaheer looked surprised, and it rankled her that he doubted her so quickly. “I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t think I could do it.”

“Go ahead.” Zaheer moved out of the way. Ming Hua stood, book in tendril. They absentmindedly handed it off to P’li, who took it from them gently. They looked at the approximate size of the vegetables already cut and sent a thin stream of water to make the rest of them match. 

They fell apart into neat slices, collapsing all at once. The others were looking on, impressed, and Ming-Hua felt a surge of pride. “That good enough?” 

“I knew you were a waterbender.” Ghazan interjected helpfully, and Ming-Hua felt their irritation spike again. 

“Did anyone ask you?” She asked. 

“Zaheer asked earlier, Lee, I’ll have you know.” Ghazan retorted. 

“Don’t bring me into this.” The shorter haired man put up his hands in a placating gesture. 

“You’re such a chickenshit, Zaheer.” Ghazan turned towards Ming-Hua before jutting a rock from the ground and sitting. “Do you have any questions for us now that you’re here?”

Ming-Hua started cutting the rest of the ingredients as P’li put them in front of her, “How did you meet?” 

“I was an air acolyte at the Western Air Temple and met P’li there, five years ago.” Zaheer offered first. 

“I was an assassin for one of the warlords nearby. I didn’t want to be, but he’d raised me and I was trapped. Zaheer rescued me.” P’li smiled fondly at Zaheer as she started adding things to the stew pot. 

“Zaheer and P’li were in Ba Sing Se three years ago, and I didn’t have a reason to stay there so I left with them.” Ghazan shrugged. 

Her stomach clenched at hearing how long they’d been together. If she had entertained the idea of joining them, it had gone out the window as she realized how she wouldn’t fit, now that she knew they were already used to this life without her. Not to mention how she still bristled at the idea of them trying to invoke that antiquated law. 

“Why are you camping in the woods now?” Ming-Hua asked, finishing the last of the vegetables. They moved to the opposite side of the fire as Ghazan, hating the way they felt looking at him. He was the type, they assured themself, that would press and press and never listen. It would be better if she didn’t stay here with them. 

“We’ve been looking for you, actually.” Ghazan explained. Her stomach grew cold at the admission and she tried to keep the terror off her face. If they had spent years looking for her, they wouldn’t let her go that easy. Zaheer must have known they were in the trees when he said those gentle words to his lover earlier, trying to fool them. She wondered if she was expected to partner with Ghazan and hated the very thought of these three trying to control her life.

“You spent the last three years on a duck-goose chase?” Ming-Hua asked derisively. 

“We found you, didn’t we? Besides, you were really more a side quest than anything.” He glanced at Zaheer.

“Lee, have you heard of the White Lotus?” Zaheer asked smoothly. 

“The ones that work for the Avatar? I’ve heard of them.” Had tried joining them, once, in an attempt to make money that wasn’t just stealing, only to be dismissed because of their lack of arms and gender. It wasn’t a memory Ming-Hua held fondly.

“The White Lotus is an outdated and corrupt society. They exist to serve the Avatar and the current governments around the world. They have thrown away their original mission to prevent tyranny, and instead uphold it. One of their members, Xia Bau, broke away and formed the Society of the Red Lotus in order to stay true to the White Lotus’ original mission. We have been conducting business for the Red Lotus at the same time as looking for you.” Zaheer looked at her expectantly, but Ming-Hua didn’t know what to say. 

“And you want me to uproot my life and join your secret society just because we’re soulmates?” They asked incredulously. The nerve of these people. How the spirits thought they’d be a Match was beyond her, and she hated thinking about her parents, how corrupted their own Match was. Perhaps they were doomed to follow the same path. 

“No.” P’li spoke for the first time since starting dinner. “If you don’t want to join us, it’s your choice. I won’t lie and say we won’t be disappointed, but all of us have had our choices taken away from us at one point or another and would never force you into that situation.” She stirred the contents of the pot once more before announcing, “Dinner’s ready.” P’li ladled the soup into the bowls she had gotten out and passed it around to the rest of them. 

Ming-Hua used both tendrils to cup the bowl, bringing it towards her. P’li offered her a set of chopsticks and Ming-Hua shook her head, using the water in the stew to lift the vegetables and cool them enough to eat. 

“This is very good, P’li.” They offered, understanding how kind it was for her to offer them food despite only really preparing for three mouths to feed. 

The taller woman beamed, “I’m glad you like it! The spices are from the Fire Nation, but we found a stall a while back that sold them and I bought in bulk.”

There wasn’t much noise besides slurping for the next few minutes, and Ming-Hua started planning her exit. These people, her soulmates apparently, were not the people Ming-Hua wanted to be trapped by. Even if they did bring colors into her life, it wouldn’t be worth sacrificing her freedom. 

“What did you mean, earlier, when you said you were a special earthbender?” It was the last thing Ming-Hua wanted to know before she left them. 

Ghazan perked up, drawing a few rocks from the ground. He started spinning them, and they began to glow. Ming-Hua watched as he pulled the molten rock in different directions, and it reminded her of her brother trying to manipulate water. 

“Neat trick.” She allowed, knowing how rare the skill was. He beamed at her before cooking the rocks and merging them back into the earth. 

“So are you a master yet?” He asked. 

“Enough of one, yeah.” No one would certify her, but so far she was unable to find another waterbender she couldn’t escape from. 

“Want to spar?” he offered, and tempted though she was to thrash him, she declined. She would have to leave this town tomorrow so they couldn’t follow, and didn’t want them getting more attached than they already were to the fantasy of a quartet.

“This evening was pleasant, but it’s getting late.” Ming-Hua said, standing. It was exhausting keeping water arms this long without actually doing anything with them, and after the emotional turmoil of the day, she just wanted to go to sleep. 

“I can walk you back.” Ghazan suggested and Ming-Hua made no effort to disguise her distaste with the idea. 

“No thanks, I’m plenty capable of taking care of myself.” This idiot wasn’t the first to underestimate her, and he certainly wouldn’t be the last. Ming-Hua had resigned themself to repeatedly confronting that misconception years ago.

They all chorused goodbye, and Ming-Hua was sure she wasn’t imagining the disappointed look on P’li’s face, and Ghazan looked similar. Zaheer was more neutral, but had a melancholy air about him that part of Ming-Hua ached to have caused. 

They would get over it, she was certain. They didn’t even know her. They already had two soulmates a piece and a third would just mess things up. 

The waxing moon and the stew made Ming-Hua feel invigorated walking back to the village. In the twenty minutes it took to walk back, she thought about the possible futures ahead of her, and couldn’t escape the idea that if she did join the others and their secret society, they’d soon decide that she was a disappointment, and the thought curdled her stomach. 

So consumed with their thoughts, Ming-Hua didn’t notice the shackles until they were wrapping around her legs, tripping her. They hauled themself up on their water arms, ready to remove the infernal chains and get out of there, only to receive multiple hits. Their arms dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut, pooling beneath them and Ming-Hua crumpled as their knees turned to wax, incapable of holding them up. 

Someone grabbed her, pulling Ming-Hua up to look at a bearded man. “You have given us quite a bit of trouble, missy. My name is Officer Fu and you’re under arrest for robbery.” 

Ming-Hua cursed her luck and inattention. It would take her until morning to get out of this. Then she could skip town, away from prying soulmates and persistent authorities. 

——

Jail cells were not their preferred sleeping location. It certainly wasn’t Ming-Hua’s first time spending the night on the hard metal bench, but each time made them feel significantly older than their twenty years. She hauled herself up from the sorry excuse for a bed the cop had dumped her on, and carefully started moving. He had left their ankles and lower legs bound together, but, looking at it, they thought that a little ice would take care of the manacles. Grimacing, she bent some water out of the toilet in the cell, and brought it to her ankles. She probed, looking for any cracks in the metal, and finding none, growled. Her water wouldn’t _work_ if there was no opening for it to distort. 

Huffing in frustration, Ming-Hua peered at their ankles, trying to see if there was a flaw she couldn’t feel. The metal was entirely smooth, meant to be removed by a metalbender only, with no keyhole or alternate way of removing them. She’d have to cut the blasted things off and hope she didn’t cut off her leg in the process.

A door opened and she hid the water up her sleeves, glancing at the man who arrested her a few hours prior. 

“We have several reports of you robbing people from many different towns along this road. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Ming-Hua had gotten tired of people talking down to her in her teens, and now she felt herself bristling at the slightest hint of derision. She glared, knowing whatever she might have said would only make it easier to identify her in the future.

“You’re to be confined here until further notice. A flight risk, I’m sure you understand.” His condescending tone only angered her more. He gestured towards her feet. “You’ll need a metal bender to get out of those, and unfortunately for you, all the metalbenders in town work for me.”

He turned away and Ming-Hua looked at the window, which was small and barred, but neither of those would pose a problem for them. He left the cell room and once Ming-Hua was certain they were alone, she sent water towards the bars, neatly slicing them. Another grimace as they gathered more water from the toilet, and Ming-Hua hauled themself out of the window, wincing a bit as the stub of metal left over scraped against them. It wasn’t even dawn yet, and Ming-Hua was grateful that the night would cover them.

She stayed aloft with her water appendages, and gathered more from a barrel nearby to steady herself, resulting in four tendrils instead of the two she already had. She first went towards the inn, traveling via the roof tops. She unlocked the door and packed her few meager belongings, tucking the only bag of coins she had left into a pocket of her dress.

It took only a few minutes, and once everything was packed in her bag, she put it on her shoulder and tied it around her chest. She put a tendril on the doorknob, but heard a commotion outside. Cursing, they stowed away through the window, closing it behind them. On the roof they considered their options. 

One, they could join their soulmates, who seemed to want them around, if the conversation they overheard was anything to go by. Even Ghazan, once Ming-Hua got past the horrible taste of humor and general annoying personality, might not be so bad. In addition, they might have an idea to get this blasted thing off their legs that didn’t involve amputating a foot. 

The other option, they could run to the next town and hope for the same thing, that someone would get this thing off them, and Ming-Hua could continue after a cop got a good look at her face. Spirits, as far as Ming-Hua knew, he might have taken a picture. She wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, being the only person she knew about with no arms.

She breathed in once through her nose and headed towards the woods. 

——

She wasn’t quite as quick as the night before, hindered by her legs not quite keeping the momentum she needed to swing and the fact she was carrying all of her belongings. 

Finally she neared the clearing, tired from being chi-blocked into unconsciousness and subsequently escaping. It would have been easier to stab the ground and walk that way, but she couldn’t risk such an obvious trail. The trees were still best, but she kept having to drop when she couldn’t quite make it to the next branch. It was still early enough that not many people were out and about, and she had tried to be as quiet as possible when leaving the town. He certainly knew she had escaped by now, but since she hadn’t visited a village on the opposite end, she hoped that was the direction he checked first. 

Far enough into the woods, she gave up on being undetected, and stabbed her way into the camp. The inhabitants were milling about, doing various chores. 

The three of them looked up at the intrusion, poised to fight. They relaxed slightly upon recognizing her. 

“You look like shit.” Ghazan said, still staring at her.

“You would also look like shit if you were chi-blocked and spent the night in a dirty jail cell.” Ming-Hua groused back. She lifted her dress to show them the strip of metal wrapped solidly around her lower legs. “I don’t suppose any of you know how to get this off?”

“That is quite the predicament you’ve found yourself in.” Zaheer said, coming forward to inspect it. Ming-Hua held themself still, and Zaheer withdrew.

“Can you cut it with a water jet?” P’li suggested.

“It’s so close to my skin I’m concerned the force might cut my leg off.” They lowered themself down to the ground and put as much force as they dared into a stream, aiming carefully towards the center to avoid the majority of their leg. 

A burning sensation grew next to the shackle, and Ming-Hua noticed the blood on her leg and stopped. “ _Fuck_.” She redirected her attention to healing the new cut, and once the bleeding stopped, she studied the metal again, noticing a tiny indent on one end. If she was going to cut the rest of it, she’d end up amputating something. 

Ming-Hua changed tactics. Instead of trying to cut through the metal, they scratched it, causing a small crevice to appear. They filled the crevice with water and froze it. After a few seconds freezing, they melted the water once again, and inspected it. They couldn’t see a change, the water having grown more out then apart, and tried pulling their ankles apart to no avail. They gritted their teeth. 

“You have a lavabender. Any of you Red Lotus members a metalbender?” Ming-Hua asked. “I hate the White Lotus as much as the next person, and I’d — I’d like to get to know you.” She lied about the last part, but was willing to do anything to get rid of the restraint, and they seemed the type to value soulmates. She reassured herself that it would be like a transaction, that if she seemed like she wanted to join them, they’d help her get out of this and get on her way. 

“We’re not too far from Aiwei. He’s more of a truth seer than anything, but perhaps he’s picked up enough skills living in that city to get it off.”

——

They had a vehicle, which Ming-Hua thought was convenient. Between P’li and Ghazan it was a tight squeeze, but Ming-Hua was small enough that fitting behind P’li was doable, even if Ghazan’s knee pressed into her thigh. Zaheer drove, while P’li sat next to him, citing carsickness. The tattooed man rolled his eyes at the excuse. There was barely room in the back for her water arms, and she’d had to downsize significantly to fit. It put a foul taste in her mouth when she was so restricted otherwise, that escape would be difficult.

The two in front were clearly romantically linked, and while Ming-Hua was happy for them, it filled her with nerves at the role they expected her to fit into. Were they supposed to be two romantic pairs and platonic for the rest? She kept glancing at Ghazan, who occasionally met her eyes, and Ming-Hua hated it. 

They were making themself ill thinking of all the possible connotations of being romantic soulmates. They rested their head against the seat, closing their eyes, trying to think of nothing instead. 

“What’d you do to get arrested?” Ghazan said conversationally. She turned her head to look at him. 

“I might have, ah, divested some men of some coppers. Nothing, really.” Ming-Hua offered. It wasn’t like she didn’t choose her targets carefully, and all of them were creeps anyway. 

He snorted, “What kind of men?”

“You know, the type that can’t keep their hands to themselves, that look at me and think they can get away with anything.” She looked him up and down as she said it, thinking about how often he had tried to touch her. He grinned. 

“Sounds like you did the world a service doing that, don’t know why’d they’d arrest you.” 

“There’s nothing to say about the lack of taste.” Ming-Hua quipped. 

“So, Lee.” Spirits have mercy, was this man never going to stop asking them questions. “Do we fulfill your expectations as your soulmates?”

“Sure.” she responded absently. 

“What did you think we’d be like?” He pressed. 

“I thought there’d only be one of you.” She had never even considered the idea of multiple soulmates. Her mysterious soulmate had always been a terrifying grey blob, wanting to control her and ruin her life, not three mysterious, colorful opponents.

“Okay, but other than that. Did you think they’d be funny? Smart? Pretty?” He suggested all these things as though Ming-Hua should have been pining for the three of them this entire time. 

“No, and yet I’m still disappointed with you.” They hoped the barb would make him stop talking. 

He put a hand on his heart like he’d been physically struck, “Really?” 

“Ghazan, can’t you take the hint she doesn’t want to talk?” P’li asked sharply. He looked taken aback at the outburst, glancing between the two women. 

“Ah, my bad.” He apologized, a sheepish expression on his face. Ming-Hua nodded to show they had heard and went back to leaning against the seat. 

——

They parked outside of a metal covered city, far enough away that the guards couldn’t see them. It was close enough to a stream that Ming-Hua was able to create new arms to step out of the car. The four of them set up camp, Ming-Hua sticking by P’li the entire time. 

“I’m going to contact Aiwei.” Zaheer informed them before disappearing into the woods. Ghazan looked at the other two for a moment, shooting P’li a confused look, before jogging after the nonbender. 

P’li was largely silent, only periodically asking Ming-Hua to help her move something or unpack something. The others had been gone long enough that P’li sat down and Ming-Hua assumed they were out of earshot. She deliberated for a few minutes before asking the questions she had been stewing over the entire drive. 

“What role do you expect me to fill?” They asked, sounding more resigned than they wanted to, to a fate that Ming-Hua certainly hadn’t wanted, but was feeling more trapped by as each hour passed. They should have never met with them, and now they thought she wanted to be here and would try and get her to stay. Perhaps _make_ her stay. 

P’li looked confused, “I mean you can catch some fish, if you want? There’s not much to do here until Aiwei finds someone to take that thing off.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Ming-Hua said, exasperated.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” P’li’s earnest look made Ming-Hua feel sort of bad for being so irritable, but it had been twenty-four hours and she was tired of waiting for someone to say something.

“You and Zaheer are clearly romantic. A blind person could see that. Is that what is expected of me and why Ghazan won’t leave me alone?” they asked directly.

P’li’s good natured look transformed immediately into one of anger, before morphing into sadness. “Is that why you’ve been so short with him? He doesn’t mean anything by it, it’s just the way he is. None of us _expect_ anything from you,” P’li’s anger was poorly hidden, “Nor do we intend to force you into a relationship with him, or myself, or Zaheer, just because he doesn’t have a partner. We said you didn’t have to stay, even after this whole,” she flapped a hand towards Ming-Hua’s legs. “Situation is over. That’s not what we believe in, and just because you’re our soulmate doesn’t mean we get to control your life.”

“You can’t seriously believe that.” They responded. 

P’li stood, indignant and towering over Ming-Hua, “Of course I believe it! Do you think Zaheer forced me into our relationship or that _I_ forced _him_? Do you think our, our relationship happened right after we met? It took years!”

“Not—“ Ming-Hua sputtered. It was _different_. P’li wasn’t the last, wasn’t the one that evened them out, didn’t have the potential to make the last one not alone. 

“If you are going to just insult us again, save it. We wouldn’t ever claim you against your will, as platonic or romantic soulmates.” P’li cut them off indignantly. “If you think that low of us, feel free to leave when this is all over.”

Ming-Hua didn’t know how to respond, simply holding themself aloft with their water arms. They snarled, “I have seen terrible, soured Matched soulmates. Forgive me for being cautious when three powerful strangers turn out to be mine.”

“You don’t even know us! We have done nothing since we’ve met to make you so distrustful. We’re even outside one of the most fortified cities in the Earth Kingdom to fix a mistake _you_ made.” Now P’li was simply yelling at her, all apparent goodwill gone. 

Ming-Hua gritted their teeth, “You didn’t have to help me. I asked, you had every right to refuse.”

“You’re our soulmate. Of course we would have never said no. Even if you _weren’t_ our soulmate we would have helped you. You don’t have to worry about any of us wanting anything romantic with you.” She looked and sounded disgusted, and Ming-Hua felt smaller than she had in years, “I’m through with this conversation.” She turned and walked past Ming-Hua into the trees surrounding them, in the same direction the other two had gone. 

Ming-Hua, when she hadn’t thought about being forced into a relationship with her soulmate, had considered what it would be like to fall asleep with someone, only for them to touch her, look at her, and find her repulsive. She was mildly surprised it had taken even less than that to make them hate her. She took a deep breath. She would leave once this infernal manacle was removed, and then P’li would not be bothered by her presence, and neither would the other two.

They sat by the stream and looked at the band of metal, and rapidly froze and melted water in the crack from before, hoping that the fatigue would wear it enough they could get it off. After twenty repetitions, they looked at it again to see no real progress. 

They growled, scowling at their legs. A twig cracked and Ming-Hua looked up to see the lavabender walking towards them. 

“I heard that if you make the same face for too long, it’ll freeze like that forever.” He offered, creating a backrest before sitting down on the ground near her. 

“If that’s your way of telling me you think I’m ugly, your insults could use work.” Ming-Hua snarled, bracing herself for the second rejection, the one they had convinced themself they wanted, because if he didn’t want them, there was no worry of him or the others forcing her to stay. She didn’t think they would leave her like this, bound in the middle of nowhere, but she wasn’t certain. 

He didn’t say anything for a minute or two, and Ming-Hua assumed he was preparing his own rejection about how she wasn’t soulmate material, as if she didn’t already know, or that because he was the one who invited her, he was the one who had been tasked with telling her to get lost. 

“I was excited at the idea of meeting our fourth, because Zaheer and P’li have each other, and while I love them, I don’t want anything to do with what they have. And if the fourth ever showed up then I wouldn’t be alone.” He said finally, smiling softly, and they felt sick at being proved right. She felt the water from the stream, and tensed, prepared to use it if he moved towards her.

“I’m not here to bend over for you because you feel _lonely_.” She spat, glaring at him. 

Ghazan’s smile disappeared and his eyes widened as he held up his hands in what she was sure was supposed to be a placating gesture. “I did _not_ say that.” He said indignantly. “I wanted a _friend_ , someone who’d just—just _be there_ , to play cards or tell stories or whatever! Whatever horrible things you think I’m going to do, it’s not going to happen.”

They continued to glare at him as he lied to their face. “I’m not stupid. No one wants a soulmate just for the _friendship_.” Ming-Hua sneered. 

“We’re not going to force you to do anything. You can leave once all of this is over. Spirits, as if anyone would _want_ to be in a relationship with someone so fucking stubborn.” He rubbed a hand over his face, “Zaheer was talking with Aiwei before I left. They should be back soon, unless you really pissed P’li off.”

Ming-Hua nodded and ignored the sting of rejection now that two thirds of her soulmates found her repulsive. It was what she wanted, anyway, because if they found her repulsive, they wouldn’t chase her later or try and get her to stay. She had yet to talk much with Zaheer, who was quieter and more introspective than the other two, but turning him away couldn’t be that much more difficult. Especially after she had insulted the other two so thoroughly. 

Remembering what P’li had said before Ming-Hua had caused her to storm off, they focused on the stream and felt multiple blobs that indicated fish. 

“If I caught fish, would you help me prepare it?” Ghazan raised an eyebrow. “Yes or no, it’s not that hard a question.”

“You want to catch fish. And have me help you with it.” He repeated slowly, “After you just told me you expected me to force you to…” he trailed off, unwilling to voice her concerns. 

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it.” They retorted. Gutting fish had always been one of her least favorite tasks growing up, and if he would be willing to do it, all the better. 

“Sure, whatever.” They both stood, Ming-Hua using her water arms to move towards the stream and eye the fish before catching them, Ghazan moving towards one of the satchels they had and rummaging through it for a knife. She looked at the stream and pulled a large bubble out containing a fish, and discarded extra water until she felt less wasteful, before walking it back towards the camp. Fish, she decided, were just as ugly with color as without. 

“Here’s one.” She announced, and Ghazan whipped his head up from where he had been examining the knife. 

“That was fast.” He sounded mildly impressed despite himself, and Ming-Hua ignored it. 

“They’re all about this size. How many should I try to catch?” They asked him. 

He studied it for another couple of seconds before responding, “Two should be fine. Zaheer doesn’t really eat fish.”

She nodded, not caring why, before quickly killing it. A quick rinse in her water arms and the fish was clean. Ming-Hua handed it to him, and he took it gingerly. She caught the second one just as quickly as the first, and brought it back to him. 

She knelt near him on the ground, taking the second and scraping the scales off it with an ice razor. The two were far enough away from the main campsite that she didn’t feel bad about the mess. The scales were good fertilizer or some beetle-ants could take them. 

Once they finished, they looked at Ghazan, who, with his head start, had already neatly scooped the entrails out and discarded them. 

“Trade me.” She gestured, flopping the fish towards him. 

“Why don’t you gut that one?” He asked, already switching the fish out on their water arm. 

“I think it’s disgusting, that’s why. Where do you keep your bowls?” They needed somewhere to put the fish once they were done prepping it. 

“The orange bag.” He instructed, going back to the task in front of him, and Ming-Hua went to the pile of bags only to realize they couldn’t recall which one of those infernal colors was orange. Refusing to ask again, they started rifling through the bags, quickly setting aside the ones that didn't contain bowls. On the seventh bag, they felt their frustration mounting. It shouldn’t be this flaming difficult to find dish ware . 

She didn’t notice him coming beside her, and jerked when he reached over to grab a bag, reach inside, and hand her a bowl. She took it from him, making quick work of the rest of the fish. He silently handed her the other fish, and she did the same with it. 

“Is there a reason you ignored me and started snooping through everything?” he asked, voice void of judgement. Ming-Hua felt herself flush with embarrassment, and gritted her teeth and ignored him. It was stupid, P’li had given her the book, and she should have memorized it better before giving it back. 

“When are the other two going to be back?” The sun was starting lower in the sky, and Ming-Hua wasn’t worried, per se, but she didn’t want her only hope of getting out of this to disappear. 

“Any time. Depends on what Aiwei had to say.” Ghazan shrugged. “Help me get some stuff together for a fire. I can start it before they get back.” 

She followed him, holding twigs and a couple bigger pieces. After only a few minutes, they headed back. Once there, Ghazan arranged the kindling and took a small rock, heated it, and used it to light the wood. 

Soon a small blaze was roaring in front of them, and Ming-Hua watched the flames flicker, lost in thought. 

A twig snapped and she jerked her head up, seeing Zaheer, P’li and a man she didn’t recognize. This had to be Aiwei, who would get her out of this. 

“You must be Lee.” the newcomer said, voice slightly nasal. Ming-Hua nodded, “I’m not a particularly skilled metalbender, my talents lie elsewhere, but I was told this wouldn’t require much finesse. I have to get back before anyone notices I am not where I am supposed to be.”

“I need you to rip it open or give me a crack so I can do it.” Ming-Hua informed him, moving towards him. 

Aiwei tilted his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to steady himself. The others were all watching intently as he moved his arms, clawed his hands, and _pulled_. 

The loud creak of metal hurt her ears, but it was a sound she welcomed. She looked down at the inch wide gap he created, wrapped her tendrils around it and pulled them apart, creating just enough room she could kick it off. 

She landed on the ground and felt horribly unsteady on her feet after nearly twenty four hours of walking on water. She grinned and bowed, “My most sincere thanks.”

He nodded back at her before turning on his heel and walking back into the woods, his bare feet seeming at odds with his otherwise cushy appearance. Earthbenders. 

Ming-Hua turned to Zaheer, “Thank you for doing this.”

The nonbender simply nodded at her, “Thanks are not necessary, we only did what was right.”

P’li still hadn’t looked at her, and Ming-Hua was fine with leaving it that way. “Ghazan and I prepared some fish for dinner tonight. I didn’t know what else you had to make an actual meal but…” Ming-Hua trailed off. 

“Ghazan and I can make dinner.” P’li said, dismissing them. Ming-Hua rankled at the casual indifference, but reminded themself it was for the best that P’li didn’t want them around. They glanced at the aforementioned man, who looked put out to be dragged into yet another chore, but followed P’li’s direction anyway.

Zaheer was looking at Ming-Hua, and she didn’t like the feeling that she was being scrutinized. So far she had spoken with him the least, and he was the only one who’s relationship with her hadn’t soured. 

“Lee, would you take a walk with me?” He asked, voice void of anything that Ming-Hua could use to determine his intentions. Zaheer was clearly their leader, was clearly the one who decided where they would go, was clearly the one behind their ideology. He made her nervous in a way the other two didn’t, unsure of herself like she hadn’t been for years.

Ming-Hua nodded, and followed him. “It is obvious that you do not trust us.” They opened their mouth to protest, even if it was true and Zaheer held up a hand, “We just met. If you did trust us so soon I would be concerned. You have given us an obviously fake name, and in addition, for no reason that I can discern, you have attempted to sabotage any attempt at friendship P’li and Ghazan made.”

“Maybe I don’t want their friendship, did that ever occur to you?” Ming-Hua groused back. It wasn’t that hidden of an objective, and she was very close to achieving it. 

“Why don’t you want it? P’li and Ghazan are good people and even better soulmates and friends.” 

Ming-Hua debated telling him the truth. That her parents had been so miserable with each other, that her father dragged her mother home against her wishes, that her mother had spent years before her death growing increasingly listless and despondent. 

Zaheer’s neutral voice and open expression made her _want_ to tell him. That she would rather die than be trapped like her mother, that she _wanted_ their friendship but nothing else, that she hated the idea of being alone for the rest of her life even though being alone had always been the safest, where people couldn’t steal from her or demand things she wasn’t willing to give. 

They looked away, “I don’t want soulmates.” They sounded petulant, even to their own ears.

“You’ve said that. Why?” He asked again. 

“So you can tell me my reasoning isn’t good enough and force me to stay? No thanks.” They retorted. 

“We’re not trying to force you to stay. If you want to be dropped off at the next town after Zaofu, we can arrange that. All I am asking is _why_ you don’t want us, to make the rejection a little easier to bear.” His infinite patience grated on their nerves, and Ming-Hua wanted him to show some emotion besides understanding. 

Ming-Hua was silent, thinking about the last day. She had better food than she was used to, and people to talk to when she wanted. It had been nice, feeling needed when fishing. She gritted her teeth, cursing Zaheer for making her feel guilty at leaving as soon as she was freed. They had been more than nice to a literal stranger, and she had been deliberately cruel to both P’li and Ghazan. 

“I’d like to go back now, if it’s all the same to you.” Ming-Hua said softly, decision made. Zaheer nodded, and they spent the next fifteen minutes walking back in silence. 

The campsite was much the same as they left it, the other two complaining at each other. At the sound of their footsteps, both looked up and P’li softened at the sight of her lover. Ghazan looked at both Zaheer and Ming-Hua with an unreadable expression before focusing on the fire.

“Dinner’s almost ready. Another couple of minutes and it’ll have cooked down enough.” Two dishes were sitting over the fire on an earthen grill, one holding the fish and the other a stew of some sort from the ingredients left over from before. 

Zaheer joined P’li on one side of the fire, and Ming-Hua sat by themself on the other side. 

“You want a seat?” Ghazan asked, and it took Ming-Hua a few moments before they realized he was talking to them. They shook their head, the ground was comfortable enough. P’li started ladling stew into four different bowls, and split the fish into three of them. The one without was handed to Zaheer along with a spoon. Ghazan and P’li also got spoons. P’li handed the earthbender the last bowl, and Ming-Hua snaked a tendril over to him to grab it. 

She waited until the rest started eating before digging in, small cuts of vegetable and fish encased in broth floating towards her mouth. Tears sprang in her eyes from the spices, and she bent them away. Once she finished all of her soup, she sacrificed some of her water arm to clean it, then discarded the sullied water. 

“My name is Ming-Hua.” They started, looking into the fire and not at the three sets of eyes focused on them, “If you will still have me, I’d like to join you, for real this time. I still don’t want anything more than friendship with any of you, soulmate or not.” 

If the one stipulation Ming-Hua had was a deal breaker, it was no real loss to her. Either they’d take her and what she was willing to give, or they wouldn’t. 

“Welcome to the Red Lotus, Ming-Hua.” Zaheer intoned, and Ming-Hua smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to talk the Red Lotus, TLOK or anything else, you can find me on twitter & tumblr @lilyliv3rs, where I never shut up about them.


End file.
